Columbus school attendance scandal

Columbus City Schools employees -- and perhaps others in schools throughout the state -- are accused of falsifying students' records to improve their schools' standing on state report cards. Read the complete series.

More Articles

Just after the former data czar for Columbus schools was found guilty of a felony yesterday and
agreed to be a witness in other cases, his attorney said former Superintendent Gene Harris knew of
his plan to alter student data.

Stephen B. Tankovich’s attorney said Harris was “aware of the issues and the conflicts” behind
Tankovich’s plan to alter student data in Columbus City Schools and that he discussed it with her
in meetings.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor and others close to the investigations say three other lower-level
administrators are likely to complete plea deals in the schools case within a month or so. They did
not say who. The investigation continues.

“He is the architect. His plea is going to set the stage for everything that follows,” said
state Auditor Dave Yost, who began investigating the district more than two years ago after The
Dispatch reported that administrators were changing student data in Columbus. “The other shoes are
going to start dropping like balloons in a convention hall.”

The charging document against Tankovich says he was the mastermind of a plan to “facilitate a
fraud” by creating a system for administrators to manipulate student data. He agreed as part of a
plea deal to cooperate and serve as a witness in any other related prosecutions.

Tankovich was one of a dozen current or former Columbus schools employees Yost referred to
Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien this year for possible criminal charges.

O’Brien investigated the dozen people Yost referred, and then some.

“Our focus was on people who played a key role,” O’Brien said.

Investigators for O’Brien have tried unsuccessfully to interview Harris, who was Tankovich’s
boss. But Tankovich’s attorney, Mark C. Collins, said yesterday after the court hearing before
Common Pleas Judge Patrick E. Sheeran that Harris had been in several meetings in which Tankovich’s
system of manipulation was discussed.

“Was she aware of the issues and the conflicts? Absolutely,” Collins said of Harris.

Meanwhile, the attorney for another former administrator who has been a target of the
investigation said Harris must be held accountable.

“Two people did this: Steve Tankovich and Gene Harris. Gene Harris and Steve Tankovich
benefitted and profited from the data manipulation,” said Bradley Davis Barbin, the attorney for
Michael Dodds. Dodds oversaw 26 schools in the district as a regional executive director. Records
show he changed large amounts of student data, even in schools where he had no authority.

“For almost a decade, Tankovich required administrators to go to mandatory meetings and make
these mandatory changes,” Barbin told The Dispatch yesterday. He attended Tankovich’s hearing as an
observer. “The people who did this — the administrators — believed it was lawful.”

Harris, Barbin said, has engaged in a “million-dollar conspiracy to cover up her responsibility.
She managed this process, and she used public dollars to do it. That’s what’s really wrong
here."

Barbin was referring to the outside legal defense for which the district began paying about two
years ago.

Harris did not respond to a message left at her home seeking comment. Attempts to reach her
attorney at Jones Day in Cleveland also were unsuccesful.

Tankovich did not admit guilt yesterday. But by entering the no-contest plea, he admitted that
the facts laid out in the charging document were true. Among them: He tried to falsify or conceal
school attendance records in an effort to “facilitate a fraud.” He created a system used by
administrators and data workers throughout the district to alter student records and submit
inaccurate data to the Ohio Department of Education.

Specifically, he made his own rule: If students were out 10 days without an excuse,
administrators could withdraw them, then re-enroll them. That meant they hadn’t been enrolled for a
full school year, and their test scores and attendance records wouldn’t count in school report
cards. Removing kids who had been absent a lot or had low test scores improved their schools’
academic standing.

Tankovich did not apologize for creating his “system.” Rather, Collins said after Tankovich was
convicted that his client didn’t intend to break the law. He came up with his “process” after a lot
of research and only because he thought it was within state student-data rules.

Collins said that Tankovich sought only to correct data, to make it accurate. He told principals
what his rules were and told them they must be able to prove, with documentation, that changes they
made were OK.

O’Brien called it a “scheme,” but Collins said that’s overstating things. Tankovich was
concerned with fairness and wanted to make sure the district wasn’t held accountable for kids who
didn’t come to school, he said.

Maybe that’s how it began, O’Brien said. But Tankovich admitted that he tried to commit
fraud.

“Over time, it devolved into something that was clearly inaccurate. He was taking it to the edge
(of what was allowable), but it’s clear that he went over the edge,” O’Brien said.

Tankovich never changed data himself. He did pass on administrators’ last-minute email requests
to withdraw kids to a data-center worker, who did so.

The fourth-degree felony conviction carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a
$5,000 fine. But Judge Sheeran said in court that, with no prior criminal record and the nature of
the crime, probation is fairly certain. Sheeran released Tankovich yesterday on $5,000 bond and
ordered him back for sentencing on Oct. 16.

In court, Sheeran reminded Tankovich that cooperating with O’Brien’s office, the state auditor,
the FBI, the city attorney and U.S. attorney on investigations and testifying in grand jury
hearings or trials involving others are key conditions of his plea deal.

“What I want to point out is, if you do not comply with the conditions of this agreement, the
state of Ohio reserves the right to file additional charges,” Sheeran said. O’Brien has the right
to decide if Tankovich keeps his end of the bargain.

It’s not clear what charges other educators in upcoming cases might face, though sources say
charges similar to Tankovich’s are likely: tampering or perhaps falsification. In some cases, a
dereliction-of-duty charge could be used.